Aurelia Butler

Latest story

100 Shares

Elizabeth Holmes’s Partner Has a New Blood-Testing Start-Up

by

Billy Evans has two children with the Theranos founder, who is in prison for fraud. He’s now trying to raise money for a testing company that promises “human health optimization.”Elizabeth Holmes is in prison for defrauding investors through her blood-testing company, Theranos. In the meantime, her partner is starting one of his own.Billy Evans, who has two children with Ms. Holmes, is trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as “the future of diagnostics” and “a radically new approach to health testing,” according to marketing materials reviewed by The New York Times.If that sounds familiar, it’s because Theranos similarly aimed to revolutionize diagnostic testing. The Silicon Valley start-up captured the world’s attention by claiming, falsely as it turned out, to have developed a blood-testing device that could run a slew of complex lab tests from a mere finger prick.Mr. Evans’s company is named Haemanthus, which is a flower also known as the blood lily. It plans to begin with testing pets for diseases before progressing to humans, according to two investors pitched on the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had agreed to keep the plans secret. Mr. Evans’s marketing materials, which lay out hopes to eventually raise more than $50 million, say the ultimate goal is nothing short of “human health optimization.”The Haemanthus testing device.HaemanthusA photo provided to potential investors of the start-up’s prototype bears more than a passing physical resemblance to Theranos’s infamous blood-testing machine, variously known as the Edison or miniLab. The device that Mr. Evans’s company is developing is a rectangular contraption with a door, a digital display screen and what the investor materials describe as tunable lasers inside.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

More stories

  • 100 Shares

    in Elections

    Elizabeth Holmes’s Partner Has a New Blood-Testing Start-Up

    Billy Evans has two children with the Theranos founder, who is in prison for fraud. He’s now trying to raise money for a testing company that promises “human health optimization.”Elizabeth Holmes is in prison for defrauding investors through her blood-testing company, Theranos. In the meantime, her partner is starting one of his own.Billy Evans, who has two children with Ms. Holmes, is trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as “the future of diagnostics” and “a radically new approach to health testing,” according to marketing materials reviewed by The New York Times.If that sounds familiar, it’s because Theranos similarly aimed to revolutionize diagnostic testing. The Silicon Valley start-up captured the world’s attention by claiming, falsely as it turned out, to have developed a blood-testing device that could run a slew of complex lab tests from a mere finger prick.Mr. Evans’s company is named Haemanthus, which is a flower also known as the blood lily. It plans to begin with testing pets for diseases before progressing to humans, according to two investors pitched on the company who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had agreed to keep the plans secret. Mr. Evans’s marketing materials, which lay out hopes to eventually raise more than $50 million, say the ultimate goal is nothing short of “human health optimization.”The Haemanthus testing device.HaemanthusA photo provided to potential investors of the start-up’s prototype bears more than a passing physical resemblance to Theranos’s infamous blood-testing machine, variously known as the Edison or miniLab. The device that Mr. Evans’s company is developing is a rectangular contraption with a door, a digital display screen and what the investor materials describe as tunable lasers inside.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 63 Shares14 Views

    in Elections

    Map: 4.1-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Tennessee

    Shake intensity Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown.  All times on the map are Eastern. The New York Times More

  • 113 Shares18 Views

    in Elections

    After Allegations, Smokey Robinson Show Goes On as Planned

    The 85-year-old Motown star performed for an adoring crowd and made no mention of the claims against him at his first concert since being named in a lawsuit.By the time Smokey Robinson performed “Cruisin’” near the end of his concert at the Beau Rivage Theater on Friday night, the mutual admiration was in full display between the Motown icon and a revering audience of nearly 1,600 people, with no mention made of the sexual assault allegations levied against him this week.Mr. Robinson had long discarded the jacket from the sparkling green suit and the tie he had begun the night with.“Do you know what you volunteered for?” he asked one woman he invited onstage.“We’ll be right back,” Mr. Robinson said when she answered that she had freely agreed to join him in front of the audience, and he took a few steps pretending to accompany her backstage. He then implored her to get the audience to sing “Cruisin’” lyrics with them.Mr. Robinson, 85, smiled widely throughout a festive set, dancing suggestively while performing many of his landmark songs as part of a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of his album “A Quiet Storm” and the release of a new album, “What the World Needs Now.”He proceeded with the concert just days after four women who worked as housekeepers for Mr. Robinson claimed in a lawsuit that he had repeatedly sexually abused them for years at his homes in California and Nevada. Three of the women did not report the allegations sooner over fear of their immigration status, the lawsuit states.The suit argues that Mr. Robinson created a hostile work environment and demanded they work long hours without receiving minimum wage. It also claims that Mr. Robinson’s wife, Frances Robinson, knew of the assaults but did not to stop them.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 113 Shares15 Views

    in Elections

    My Mother and I Bond Over Ignoring Mother’s Day

    We never celebrated Mother’s Day when I was growing up. Both my parents came from families that considered the holiday to be phony pageantry that was more about putting money in the pocket of Big Florist than it was about showing love and respect for our elders. I can’t remember ever really acknowledging the occasion as a child; it just wasn’t part of our family culture.When I became a mother myself, it never occurred to me to honor the day. Fighting hoards of my fellow New Yorkers for an overpriced brunch reservation is my personal hell. Even the idea of being the center of my family’s special attention is somewhat mortifying to me; I’m not a big birthday person for this reason, either.Of course, I love it when my daughters make me cards for any reason — I’m not that much of a jerk. While I acknowledge that the day is painful for many people who have lost or are estranged from their mothers, I don’t think we should get rid of the occasion; many find joy in it. It is just not for me.The woman credited with creating our modern notion of Mother’s Day would likely agree with my family’s salty spirit. According to the Smithsonian’s blog, Anna Jarvis lobbied for a national Mother’s Day in the early 1900s to honor her mother, Ann Jarvis. Ann spent her entire life working to promote peace, unity and public health — most of Ann’s dozen children “died from diseases such as diphtheria or measles, which were common during her day in the Appalachian area of Virginia,” and so she devoted her life to the hygiene of her community. (Ann is probably rolling over in her grave right now as measles and whooping cough surge.)A further irony: Anna was so appalled at the commercialization of the holiday she championed that she later tried to get Mother’s Day canceled. She ultimately “died penniless in a sanitarium where her bills were paid by the same greeting card companies and florists she despised,” according to the Smithsonian.I shared the Jarvises’ story with my mother, who was not surprised. “Anything which can be commercialized will ultimately be corrupted,” she texted me. The only family holidays we really get into are Passover and Thanksgiving, because they are just about getting together over a big meal. I don’t know how you’d tart up Passover — plague-themed stemware? As for Thanksgiving, my mother put it well: “no one profits except the turkey farmers.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 138 Shares18 Views

    in Elections

    What We Know About the Terrorist Groups India Said It Targeted

    India has accused Pakistan of continuing to support Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. Pakistan has rejected those claims.The spark for the latest conflict between India and Pakistan, the most expansive fighting between the two countries in decades, was a terrorist attack on civilians in Kashmir last month.The Indian government had been projecting calm on its side of the disputed Kashmir region. A group of militants managed to puncture that image. They came out of the woods in a scenic picnic spot and killed 26 men. The men, almost all of them Hindu, were singled out for their religion, and many of them were killed in front of their wives and families, according to witness accounts.A little-known group called the Resistance Front claimed responsibility. The Indian government said that the group was a front for a broader terrorist apparatus that has operated out of Pakistan. Pakistan has rejected those claims.Here is what we know about the groups that India said it had targeted in its military strikes.What are the two main groups India targeted?Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was founded in the 1980s, has long been suspected of planning from Pakistan some of the worst terrorist attacks in India. It was added to a United Nations sanctions list in 2005.One of the deadliest attacks the group orchestrated was a 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, during which more than 160 people were killed. Nearly a dozen gunmen arrived on boats and held hostages at a major hotel for days. One of the attackers was captured alive, and much of the account of the attack’s ties to Pakistan came from his confessions. He was sentenced in India in 2010 and executed in 2012.Pakistan has confirmed Lashkar-e-Taiba’s links to past violence in India but says that the group was outlawed and disbanded long ago. The group’s founder, Hafiz Saeed, is free despite brief periods of detention, and Indian officials say that the group continues its activities through cover organizations and offshoots, such as the Resistance Front.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 125 Shares18 Views

    in Elections

    World Catholics See the First American Pope as Hardly American

    Catholics around the world were skeptical at first about an American pope. But Pope Leo XIV’s multicultural and multilingual identity has put them at ease.The surprising election of the first American pope felt fraught and disorienting to Roman Catholics around the world, who had considered such an outcome unlikely and perhaps unwelcome — until Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and chose to speak a few sentences in Spanish.In an instant, the new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, signaled that his identity would defy easy categorization. He chose in that pivotal moment on Thursday evening not to say anything in English or mention the United States. He seemed intent on conveying the message that he was not a typical American.It worked. Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago, has Creole heritage, lived in Peru for decades and speaks at least three languages, established himself as a citizen of the world. Catholics around the globe raced to claim pieces of his multicultural and multilingual background as their own.”He considers himself American, but he also considers himself Peruvian,” said Julia Caillet, a 33-year-old osteopath, who was in line outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for a special service for young Catholics celebrating the new pope on Friday evening. “He is a priest of the world.”At a time when President Trump has isolated the United States from its diplomatic allies and trade partners and upended much of the world order, some Catholics worried that an American pontiff might somehow bring the Roman Catholic Church closer to the tumultuous American government.Instead, Pope Leo appears to have reassured them, at least for now, that he would preserve the church as a global moral voice calling for peace and justice, especially for migrants, the poor and victims of war, in the mold of Pope Francis.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • 75 Shares

    in Elections

    Haemanthus’s Patent for ‘Raman Spectroscopy System’

    (56)

    References Cited

    OTHER PUBLICATIONS

    US 12,203,862 B1 Page 5

    Acri, Giuseppe, et al. “Raman Spectroscopy as Noninvasive Method of Diagnosis of Pediatric Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease.” Applied Sciences, vol. 10, No. 19, Oct. 5, 2020, p. 6974, doi:10. 3390/app10196974.
    Westley, Chloe, et al. “Real-time Monitoring of Enzyme-catalysed Reactions Using Deep UV Resonance Raman Spectroscopy.” Chem- istry A European Journal, vol. 23, No. 29, May 2, 2017, pp. 6983-6987, doi:10.1002/chem.201701388.
    Larmour, Iain A., et al. “The Past, Present and Future of Enzyme Measurements Using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy.” Chemical Science, vol. 1, No. 2, 2010, p. 151, doi:10.1039/ c0sc00226g.
    Fan, Xiaqiong, et al. “A Universal and Accurate Method for Easily Identifying Components in Raman Spectroscopy Based on Deep Learning.” Analytical Chemistry, vol. 95, No. 11, Mar. 13, 2023, pp. 4863-4870, doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.2c03853.
    Fan, Xiaqiong, et al. “A Universal and Accurate Method for Easily Identifying Components in Raman Spectroscopy Based on Deep Learning Supporting Information.” Analytical Chemistry, vol. 95, No. 11, Mar. 13, 2023, doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.2c03853.s001. Luo, Ruihao, et al. “Deep Learning for Raman Spectroscopy: A Review.” Analytica, vol. 3, No. 3, Jul. 19, 2022, pp. 287-301, doi:10.3390/analytica3030020.
    Fan, Xiaqiong, et al. “Deep Learning-Based Component Identifi- cation for the Raman Spectra of Mixtures.” The Analyst, vol. 144, No. 5, 2019, pp. 1789-1798, doi:10.1039/c8an02212g. Jensen, Emil Alstrup, et al. “Label-Free Blood Typing by Raman Spectroscopy and Artificial Intelligence.” Advanced Materials Tech- nologies, vol. 9, No. 2, Dec. 6, 2023, doi:10.1002/admt.202301462. Qi, Yaping, et al. “Recent Progresses in Machine Learning Assisted Raman Spectroscopy.” Advanced Optical Materials, vol. 11, No. 14, Apr. 26, 2023, doi: 10.1002/adom.202203104.
    Lopes, Daniela Franco, et al. “Characterization of Biomarkers in Blood Serum for Cancer Diagnosis in Dogs Using Raman Spec- troscopy.” Journal of Biophotonics, vol. 17, No. 3, Dec. 15, 2023, doi:10.1002/jbio.202300338.
    Papadakis, Vassilis M., et al. “Label-Free Human Disease Charac- terization through Circulating Cell-Free DNA Analysis Using Raman Spectroscopy.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 24, No. 15, Aug. 3, 2023, p. 12384, doi:10.3390/ijms241512384. Shin, Hyunku, et al. “Single Test-Based Diagnosis of Multiple Cancer Types Using Exosome-SERS-AI for Early Stage Cancers.” Nature Communications, vol. 14, No. 1, Mar. 24, 2023, doi:10. 1038/s41467-023-37403-1.
    Maiti, Kiran Sankar, et al. “Detection of Disease-Specific Volatile Organic Compounds Using Infrared Spectroscopy.” The 16th Inter- national Workshop on Advanced Infrared Technology & Applica- tions, Nov. 22, 2021, doi:10.3390/engproc2021008015. Hanf, Stefan, et al. “Fast and Highly Sensitive Fiber-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Monitoring of Molecular H2 and CH4 for Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Malabsorption Disorders in Exhaled Human Breath.” Analytical Chemistry, vol. 87, No. 2, Dec. 29, 2014, pp. 982-988, doi: 10.1021/ac503450y.
    Bögözi, Timea, et al. “Fiber-Enhanced Raman Multi-Gas Spectros- copy: What Is the Potential of Its Application to Breath Analysis?” Bioanalysis, vol. 7, No. 3, Feb. 2015, pp. 281-284, doi:10.4155/ bio.14.299.
    Huang, Liping, et al. “Noninvasive Diagnosis of Gastric Cancer Based on Breath Analysis with a Tubular Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensor.” ACS Sensors, vol. 7, No. 5, May 13, 2022, pp. 1439-1450, doi: 10.1021/acssensors.2c00146.
    Popov, Evgeniy, et al. “Raman Spectroscopy for Urea Breath Test.” Biosensors, vol. 13, No. 6, Jun. 2, 2023, p. 609, doi:10.3390/ bios13060609.
    Shen, Yujie, et al. “A Versatile Setup Using Femtosecond Adaptive Spectroscopic Techniques for Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scat- tering.” Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 86, No. 8, Aug. 1, 2015, doi: 10.1063/1.4929380.

    Shutova, Mariia, et al. “Adaptive Optics Approach to Surface- Enhanced Raman Scattering.” Optics Letters, vol. 45, No. 13, Jun. 30, 2020, p. 3709, doi:10.1364/01.394548.
    Christopher B. Marble, et al. “Biomedical Optics Applications of Advanced Lasers and Nonlinear Optics.” Journal of Biomedical Optics, vol. 25, No. 04, Apr. 23, 2020, p. 1, doi: 10.1117/1.jbo.25. 4.040902.
    Shutov, Anton D., et al. “Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microspectroscopy: An Emerging Technique for Non-Invasive Opti- cal Assessment of a Local Bio-Nano-Environment.” IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, vol. 27, No. 5, Sep. 2021, pp. 1-6, doi:10.1109/jstqe.2021.3083687.
    Shutova, Mariia, et al. “Coherent Raman Generation Controlled by Wavefront Shaping.” Scientific Reports, vol. 9, No. 1, Feb. 7, 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-38302-y.
    Arora, Rajan, et al. “Detecting Anthrax in the Mail by Coherent Raman Microspectroscopy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 109, No. 4, Jan. 3, 2012, pp. 1151-1153, doi:10. 1073/pnas.1115242108.
    Petrov, Georgi I., et al. “Detection of Bacillus Subtilis Spores in Water by Means of Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spec- troscopy.” Optics Express, vol. 13, No. 23, 2005, p. 9537, doi:10. 1364/opex. 13.009537.
    Traverso, Andrew J., et al. “Dual Raman-Brillouin Microscope for Chemical and Mechanical Characterization and Imaging.” Analyti- cal Chemistry, vol. 87, No. 15, Jul. 24, 2015, pp. 7519-7523, doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem. 5b02104.
    Petrov, Georgi I., et al. “Electronically Tunable Coherent Raman Spectroscopy Using Acousto-Optics Tunable Filter.” Optics Express, vol. 23, No. 19, Sep. 10, 2015, p. 24669, doi:10.1364/oe.23.024669. Hokr, Brett H., et al. “Enabling Time Resolved Microscopy with Random Raman Lasing.” Scientific Reports, vol. 7, No. 1, Mar. 15, 2017, doi: 10.1038/srep44572.
    Zhu, Hanlin, et al. “Enhanced Chemical Sensing with Multiorder Coherent Raman Scattering Spectroscopic Dephasing.” Analytical Chemistry, vol. 94, No. 23, May 27, 2022, pp. 8409-8415, doi:10. 1021/acs.analchem.2c01060.
    Zhang, Zhedong, et al. “Entangled Photons Enabled Time-Frequency- Resolved Coherent Raman Spectroscopy and Applications to Elec- tronic Coherences at Femtosecond Scale.” Light: Science & Appli- cations, vol. 11, No. 1, Sep. 14, 2022, doi:10.1038/s41377-022- 00953-y.
    Hokr, Brett H., et al. “Higher Order Processes in Random Raman Lasing.” Applied Physics A, vol. 117, No. 2, Aug. 27, 2014, pp. 681-685, doi:10.1007/s00339-014-8722-7.
    Shutov, Anton D., et al. “Highly Efficient Tunable Picosecond Deep Ultraviolet Laser System for Raman Spectroscopy.” Optics Letters, vol. 44, No. 23, Nov. 27, 2019, p. 5760, doi: 10.1364/01.44.005760. Zhang, Yingchao, et al. “Improving Resolution in Quantum Subnanometre-Gap Tip-Enhanced Raman Nanoimaging.” Scientific Reports, vol. 6, No. 1, May 25, 2016, doi:10.1038/srep25788. Altangerel, Narangerel, et al. “In Vivo Diagnostics of Early Abiotic Plant Stress Response via Raman Spectroscopy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, No. 13, Mar. 13, 2017, pp. 3393-3396, doi:10.1073/pnas.1701328114.
    Altangerel, Narangerel, et al. “Label-Free Drug Interaction Screen- ing via Raman Microscopy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 120, No. 30, Jul. 18, 2023, doi:10.1073/pnas. 2218826120.
    Meng, Zhaokai, et al. “Lightweight Raman Spectroscope Using Time-Correlated Photon-Counting Detection.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 112, No. 40, Sep. 21, 2015, pp. 12315-12320, doi:10.1073/pnas.1516249112.
    Shen, Yujie, et al. “Picosecond Supercontinuum Generation in Large Mode Area Photonic Crystal Fibers for Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Microspectroscopy.” Scientific Reports, vol. 8, No. 1, Jun. 22, 2018, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-27811-5. Meng, Zhaokai, et al. “Pure Electrical, Highly-Efficient and Sidelobe Free Coherent Raman Spectroscopy Using Acousto-Optics Tunable Filter (AOTF).” Scientific Reports, vol. 6, No. 1, Feb. 1, 2016, doi: 10.1038/srep20017.
    Altangerel, Narangerel, et al. “Raman Spectroscopy as a Robust New Tool for Rapid and Accurate Evaluation of Drought Tolerance More

  • 88 Shares14 Views

    in Elections

    Earthquake Rocks Parts of Tennessee and Georgia

    The quake on Saturday morning had a preliminary magnitude of 4.1, with an epicenter about 30 miles southwest of Knoxville, Tenn. Residents in Atlanta reported feeling it.Residents in Tennessee and Georgia were jolted on Saturday morning by an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The earthquake had its epicenter just outside of Greenback, Tenn., a town of about 1,000 people, but was felt as far away as Atlanta.Shortly after the quake, people in the region logged reports with the U.S. Geological Survey about where they felt it. Reports of shaking came from as far away as Nashville and Charlotte, N.C.There were only a few instances of light damage reported around the epicenter, and no reports of moderate or heavy damage, according to those who self-reported to the Geological Survey.The area, known as the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, extends across Tennessee into northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama. Minor earthquakes occur annually, but the zone is not known to have major tremors.As seismologists review available data, they may revise the reported magnitude of Saturday’s earthquake.The last time a strong earthquake was felt in the region was 2018, when a 4.4 magnitude tremor rattled houses but caused little damage.The earthquake was still novel enough to generate aftershocks on social media.People from Asheville, N.C., to Gatlinburg, Tenn., outside of Knoxville, reported feeling the earth shaking as they enjoyed their morning coffee.One user poked fun at the earthquake’s lack of impact, sharing an image of patio furniture with a single chair knocked over, captioned: “I survived the 2025 Knoxville earthquake. We will rebuild.”Another shared a photo of their cat sheltering in a cardboard box with the caption, “Did not handle the East Tennessee earthquake of 2025 well at all.”Jonathan Wolfe More